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How about you don't print the guy's name 10 years from the event, NYT?

I was working at the Worldwide Leader at the time, and I strongly advocated (probably too strongly)that we don't use his name on the air. I was repeatedly smacked down by people who said that other outlets were reporting it already. And my thought was "let them answer for it; we'll answer for it if we report his name and some harm from some knucklehead comes to him."

Apparently Thed thinks he is since they just locked him up for two more years.

Oh that 2Y/3.5M contract really upset you?

And good for you Erik. Your employer wasn't as shameful as the Sun-Times(let's print the guy's address!!! This will surely have a lot of worth), but the way the sports media has operated on this for the last 10 years is shameful even for sports media.

I won't read TFA, but it blows my mind that there's no sense of self-awareness when people write these stories saying this guy is invisible, he's never granting interview requests, seemingly just wants to live his life like a normal person. Hey, let's go bother him some!

I should probably say that I don't go in for this "public figure" ridiculousness. I have never typed the name of the Newtown shooter. I think you can provide very good coverage of an event without using people's names; most of the "use their names" rules were established a long time ago. In the Internet age, you may as well put their Social Security numbers out there; five minutes of Googling will tell you just about everything you want to know if you have someone's name.

I should probably say that I don't go in for this "public figure" ridiculousness. I have never typed the name of the Newtown shooter. I think you can provide very good coverage of an event without using people's names; most of the "use their names" rules were established a long time ago. In the Internet age, you may as well put their Social Security numbers out there; five minutes of Googling will tell you just about everything you want to know if you have someone's name.

Interestingly, that depends on the name. Here, I'll give you mine: Nathan Smith. What can you find out from that? : )

In real-name-land, I am the criminal defense lawyer guy, and not the champion beard grower guy.
(one day I will change my BBTF handle to something like "FLNRSA is not the champion beard grower guy." But today is not that day.)

I was working at the Worldwide Leader at the time, and I strongly advocated (probably too strongly)that we don't use his name on the air. I was repeatedly smacked down by people who said that other outlets were reporting it already. And my thought was "let them answer for it; we'll answer for it if we report his name and some harm from some knucklehead comes to him."

I'll never forget Fox (they had the game right? Whoever was broadcasting it) showing Bartman repeatedly. They did everything except show him with a giant bullseye superimposed and I think had the game gone a few minutes longer they would have gotten to that.

Balls In Play is the key phrase. The ball in the Cubs game was still in play. The umpire's interpretation of interference should not be the governing principle for fan behavior.

You're right in that "(t)he umpire's interpretation of interference should not be the governing principle"; the actual rules of baseball, though, leave no interpretation to this particular play. From the official MLB Rules of Baseball (2010):

3.16 When there is spectator interference with any thrown or batted ball, the ball shall be dead at the moment of interference and the umpire shall impose such penalties as in his opinion will nullify the act of interference.
APPROVED RULING: If spectator interference clearly prevents a fielder from catching a fly ball, the umpire shall declare the batter out.
Rule 3.16 Comment: There is a difference between a ball which has been thrown or batted into the stands, touching a spectator thereby being out of play even though it rebounds onto the field and a spectator going onto the field or reaching over, under or through a barrier and touching a ball in play or touching or otherwise interfering with a player. In the latter case it is clearly intentional and shall be dealt with as intentional interference as in Rule 3.15. Batter and runners shall be placed where in the umpire’s judgment they would have been had the interference not occurred. No interference shall be allowed when a fielder reaches over a fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at his own risk.

EDIT: What, doesn't everyone keep copies of the Rules of Baseball and the Collective Bargaining Agreement on his computer to back him up in internet discussions??? (Yes, his. No sane woman could ever understand how life-and-death important these things are)

My name is not common. There are less than 10 people in the world, to my knowledge, who share it.
My fiance is in graduate school. In one of her classes this term, much to her surprise, she found herself assigned to a seat next to one of those 10 people.

I should probably say that I don't go in for this "public figure" ridiculousness. I have never typed the name of the Newtown shooter. I think you can provide very good coverage of an event without using people's names; most of the "use their names" rules were established a long time ago.

That's commendable on your part. Usually I'd agree but I would like the idiot fan in Boston from last night's game to be outed so he can get some grief. I enjoy the schadenfreude of bad things happening to bad people.

I used to think that my name wasn't common. Then someone with my name ran for Govenor of CA after the Grey Davis recall. Then someone else with my name became an Asst. GM for a major league team. By training I'm an attorney, although now recovering day by day; there is another attorney practicing half-way across the country with the same name including middle initial. I've received dunning notices his State Bar tried to send him.

Well I just disagree with you. If people are sitting in a seat adjacent to the field, they are aware in advance that a ball might come that way. Some of the Cubs fans kept their hands to themselves, and some of them leaned over and extended their arms out fully - grubbing for a souvenir. One of them received way too much blame for what he did, but at least maybe it will prevent other people from getting in the way in similar situations.

It's a simple baseball, people should stop acting like they are nuggets of gold being flung into the stands.

I thought my name was unique, but practicing the dark arts of narcissism and googling myself, there is another... What's more surprising is that we are apparently not related - I was honestly a bit concerned that someone was doing a little identity theft ganking, but investigations revealed that this other me would actually be more justified in wondering I was doing so than vice versa.

"In one of her classes this term, much to her surprise, she found herself assigned to a seat next to one of those 10 people."

I once played golf with a "single" - a guy who joins your group after showing up to the course alone - who share my name. only one I've ever met. I was the most famous with my name until someone came along who occasionally leads the network newscasts with his latest comments. ah well

I have a common first name and a very common surname, I quite like being one of the crowd on Google. There was a bit of a problem with the snail mail when I moved to a building where a guy with the same name lived, though.

There's a guy from Hawaii who graduated from HS about 45 years ago who has the same name as me. I know this because I was getting all of these invitations and notices about his 40th reunion. At first, I thought it was just spam (because there were links included in the emails for "hotel information"), but then I got emails after the fact talking about what a great time everyone had. Turns out his email address was his proper first name & last name @ the ISP; mine was the common first name (one letter different) & last name @ the same ISP.

My sister-in-law had a very rare form of cancer, and at about the same time she was dying; my brother sent us updates regularly (both our family and hers are very big; email was by far the best way to keep us all informed). When I told my family about the "other guy", my brother said "Yeah, I know. I got an email from him a while ago that said he was sorry to hear about my wife, but the info probably wasn't meant for him."

I believe I am the only person in the U.S. with my first and last name combination. Google only comes up with me and the U.S. Census says our family name has fewer than 100 members as of last census. I think it's likely that I'm the only one in the world.

Anyway, a google image search of my last name gets you a bunch of male chastity belts thanks to a guy in Germany. So there's that.

I'm hard to find on the internet because there's a author of books on mysticism and the like who's all over the interwebs.

As I use my name as my e-mail address, I get a request to explain something in one of the books every so often. The atheist in me wants to say something outrageous, but my sensibilities kick in and I simply explain they have the wrong guy.

Edit: Just discovered his middle initial is the same as mine. Am tempted to drop him a line and find out what it stands for.

Unless you're name is way out there like "Sarphod Blargleblox" or something then the number of people who share it will be much larger than you imagine. To expect anything else is to greatly underestimate the number of people in the world.

Unless you're name is way out there like "Sarphod Blargleblox" or something then the number of people who share it will be much larger than you imagine. To expect anything else is to greatly underestimate the number of people in the world.

I just always thought mine was unique because it's a traditional Irish first name with a Polish/Lithuanian last name... No idea how the 'rents arrived there - other maybe my mom secretly hoping for a girl, I guess... the "other me" does appear to have married into the full name, though. Is it kosher to demand someone you've never known or met hyphenate her surname?

there used to be a number of harveys. but like Floyd and august and marian these are dying away as male names. I am sure there are some English babes still getting named Harvey but other than that it's nearing extinction.

I just always thought mine was unique because it's a traditional Irish first name with a Polish/Lithuanian last name... No idea how the 'rents arrived there - other maybe my mom secretly hoping for a girl, I guess... the "other me" does appear to have married into the full name, though. Is it kosher to demand someone you've never known or met hyphenate her surname?

If you're talking about my wife, her maiden name is Jones so it would be an odd hyphenated pairing.

I'm the very sexy scientist, not the very famous artist. The artist is a bit older than me but I chuckle to think that someone who hasn't thought of me since high school my Google my name and find him taking up most of the hits and think that could be me - a guy with less artistic talent than anyone anywhere.

Unless you're name is way out there like "Sarphod Blargleblox" or something then the number of people who share it will be much larger than you imagine. To expect anything else is to greatly underestimate the number of people in the world.

Same here. Then about five years ago, someone with my exact name died in a house fire. Then the first several Google pages for my name were all news articles about that incident. Still fills up about half the search results now. I have one friend who thinks it's hilarious and always talks about that time I died in a fire.